CODETEL
Encyclopedia
Claro is the largest telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic
and provides local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, as well as Internet
and IPTV
services, to approximately four million customers.
Previously known as CODETEL (Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos), the name change was announced February 2, 2004 at the National Theater of Santo Domingo
in a ceremony to welcome the Verizon brand to the country. On April 3, 2006 Verizon agreed to sell its stakes in Verizon Dominicana along with Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico Inc. (TELPRI) in Puerto Rico to Carlos Slim Helú
's group América Móvil
for $3.7 billion..
On January 31, 2007 the company's new owners, América Móvil
, announced their decision to rename it to the previous CODETEL name, for their land telecom business and Claro
for their mobile services. On January 20, 2011 Oscar Peña, the company's president, announced the company's brands would be unified and would become Claro as a part of a global unification across Latin America, where América Móvil's services are under the Claro brand.
América Móvil
owns 100% of the company.
, and held a de facto monopoly
until the mid 1990s. After the Dominican government passed Law 153 in 1998 providing for effective liberalization
and improved pro-competition regulation, new entrants had eroded CODETEL's predominant position with the incumbent capturing only 50% of the international traffic to the United States (accounting for 70% of the total international traffic). In 2000 Verizon was formed after a merger by Bell Atlantic and GTE, with CODETEL continuing operations as a subsidiary of the new company. During November 2003 CODETEL selected Nortel Networks to provide a Voice over Internet Protocol network intended to converge voice and data traffic, help drive lower operating costs, and provide advanced services throughout the country. During December of the same year CODETEL announced the commercial launch of its Flash Movil 3G
network, a CDMA2000
1X voice and high-speed data network using equipment, software and services from Lucent Technologies
..
Claro provides services over CDMA 1xEV-DO in 800/1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE in 850/1900 MHz, and 3G UMTS/HSPA
service on the 850 MHz band.
to its customers over fixed ADSL2+ and mobile UMTS/HSPA. The bandwidths offered for fixed internet on standalone plans and on Multiplans are as follows:
Claro's mobile internet packages are as follows:
Note the prepaid plans still be used after the data allowance has been exceeded however the speed will be reduced to 128kbps until the requested plan runs out.
and satellite
. It also provides mobile television services over Rok TV. Mobile television services are offered as daily and monthly packages.
, Colocation
, Web Hosting, IPTV, equipment rental, and SMS services.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
and provides local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, as well as Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
services, to approximately four million customers.
Background
Teatro Nacional (Santo Domingo)
The Teatro Nacional is part of the Plaza de la Cultura complex, located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The theatre is the center piece of the complex and is surrounded by several museums and cultural institutions...
in a ceremony to welcome the Verizon brand to the country. On April 3, 2006 Verizon agreed to sell its stakes in Verizon Dominicana along with Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico Inc. (TELPRI) in Puerto Rico to Carlos Slim Helú
Carlos Slim Helú
Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who as of 2011 is the richest person in the world, for the second year in a row...
's group América Móvil
América Móvil
América Móvil is a Mexican telecommunication company headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the fourth largest mobile network operator in terms of equity subscribers, one of the largest corporations in Latin America, and the world. America Movil is a Fortune 500 company...
for $3.7 billion..
On January 31, 2007 the company's new owners, América Móvil
América Móvil
América Móvil is a Mexican telecommunication company headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the fourth largest mobile network operator in terms of equity subscribers, one of the largest corporations in Latin America, and the world. America Movil is a Fortune 500 company...
, announced their decision to rename it to the previous CODETEL name, for their land telecom business and Claro
Claro (mobile phone network)
Claro is the largest mobile phone network in the Americas. It is part of the Mexican telecom group América Móvil which is one of the four largest mobile phone network operators in the world, with more than 200 million customers...
for their mobile services. On January 20, 2011 Oscar Peña, the company's president, announced the company's brands would be unified and would become Claro as a part of a global unification across Latin America, where América Móvil's services are under the Claro brand.
América Móvil
América Móvil
América Móvil is a Mexican telecommunication company headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the fourth largest mobile network operator in terms of equity subscribers, one of the largest corporations in Latin America, and the world. America Movil is a Fortune 500 company...
owns 100% of the company.
History
CODETEL began offering telephone service in the Dominican Republic during the 1940s as a subsidiary of the US firm General Telephone and ElectronicsGTE
GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
, and held a de facto monopoly
De facto monopoly
A de facto monopoly is a monopoly that was not created by government. It is most often used in contrast to de jure monopoly, which is one that is protected from competition by government action....
until the mid 1990s. After the Dominican government passed Law 153 in 1998 providing for effective liberalization
Liberalization
In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...
and improved pro-competition regulation, new entrants had eroded CODETEL's predominant position with the incumbent capturing only 50% of the international traffic to the United States (accounting for 70% of the total international traffic). In 2000 Verizon was formed after a merger by Bell Atlantic and GTE, with CODETEL continuing operations as a subsidiary of the new company. During November 2003 CODETEL selected Nortel Networks to provide a Voice over Internet Protocol network intended to converge voice and data traffic, help drive lower operating costs, and provide advanced services throughout the country. During December of the same year CODETEL announced the commercial launch of its Flash Movil 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
network, a CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
1X voice and high-speed data network using equipment, software and services from Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
..
Claro provides services over CDMA 1xEV-DO in 800/1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE in 850/1900 MHz, and 3G UMTS/HSPA
High Speed Packet Access
High Speed Packet Access is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access and High Speed Uplink Packet Access , that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols...
service on the 850 MHz band.
Multiplan
Claro Multiplan is a brand under which Claro offers Telephone, Internet, and IPTV services. The bundles also include discounts on mobile Internet and mobile TV.Internet
Claro provides Broadband Internet accessBroadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
to its customers over fixed ADSL2+ and mobile UMTS/HSPA. The bandwidths offered for fixed internet on standalone plans and on Multiplans are as follows:
| Standalone | Multiplan | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download | Upload | Title | Download | Upload |
| 1Mbit/s | 256Kbit/s | Basic | 1Mbit/s | 256Kbit/s |
| 1.5Mbit/s | 256Kbit/s | Basic 1 | 1.5Mbit/s | 512Kbit/s |
| 2Mbit/s | 512Kbit/s | Extra 1 | 2Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 3Mbit/s | 768Kbit/s | Extra 2 | 3Mbit/s | 786Kbit/s |
| 4Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Superior 1 | 2Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 6Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Superior 2 | 2Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 8Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Superior 3 | 2Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 10Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Advanced | 2Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 15Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Advanced 1 | 3Mbit/s | 768Kbit/s |
| 20Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | Advanced 2 | 4Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s |
| 30Mbit/s | 1Mbit/s | |||
| 40Mbit/s | 1.5Mbit/s | |||
| 50Mbit/s | 2Mbit/s | |||
Claro's mobile internet packages are as follows:
| Type | Data allowance | Time Active |
|---|---|---|
| Postpaid | 100MB | N/A |
| Postpaid | 500MB | N/A |
| Postpaid | 3GB | N/A |
| Postpaid | 5GB | N/A |
| Postpaid | 10GB | N/A |
| Prepaid | 100MB | 1 Day |
| Prepaid | 1GB | 7 Days |
| Prepaid | 1.5GB | 15 Days |
| Prepaid | 3GB | 30 Days |
| Prepaid | 3GB | 60 Days |
Note the prepaid plans still be used after the data allowance has been exceeded however the speed will be reduced to 128kbps until the requested plan runs out.
Television
Claro offers fixed television services over Microsoft MediaroomMicrosoft Mediaroom
Microsoft Mediaroom is the latest update of the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition platform software, which is the Smart TV platform from Microsoft that is intended for interactive television use to access on-demand, live television programming, and applications via a 10-foot user interface...
and satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
. It also provides mobile television services over Rok TV. Mobile television services are offered as daily and monthly packages.
Enterprise
Claro offers their enterprise customers mobile and fixed telephone, mobile, fixed, dedicated, and satellite Internet, Internet BackhaulBackhaul (telecommunications)
In a hierarchical telecommunications network the backhaul portion of the network comprises the intermediate links between the core network, or backbone, of the network and the small subnetworks at the "edge" of the entire hierarchical network...
, Colocation
Colocation centre
A colocation centre or colocation center , is a type of data centre where equipment space and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers...
, Web Hosting, IPTV, equipment rental, and SMS services.